1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to the field of cleaning devices such as hand held dusters and dust mops. More particularly, the present invention relates to a cleaning pad that exhibits improved debris adhesion due to the addition of an amphiphillic additive to the cleaning pad.
2. Discussion of the Related Art
For decades, hand held feather dusters, dust rags and other cleaning implements have been used as cleaning tools for the removal of dust adhering to furniture such as dressers and coffee tables, electrical appliances such as computers, lights, interior walls, lintels and the like. Thus, it is generally well known to remove dust or dirt from floors, furniture, and other household surfaces by rubbing a dust rag, cloth or other cleaning implement against the surface such that the dust or dirt adheres to the cleaning implement.
Throughout the last half-century, new cleaning implements have been developed to assist the individual in dusting and similar cleaning chores. While hand held dusters and other cleaning implements are generally well known in the art, numerous drawbacks exist with the current commercially available designs. For example, US Application Pub. No. US 2004/0034956 A1, U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,813,801, 5,953,784 and 6,550,092, disclose variations of hand held cleaning devices incorporating a disposable cleaning pad. These devices, while somewhat suitable for the desired application, exhibit notable limitations. For example, none of the above-cited references provide a convenient storage configuration. Rather, in order to store most prior art hand held cleaning implements, the handle must be physically disassembled from its cleaning pad support member. Additionally, the attachment portions of these known devices often comprise a press fitted member that may weaken over time resulting in the support member disengaging from the handle portion during cleaning.
In addition, a suitable retention means has not been developed to adequately maintain the cleaning pad on the support member, during dusting or other cleaning. For example, the handy mop disclosed in US Application Pub. No. US 2004/0034956 A1, discloses arcuate protrusions along the lateral sides of the parallel attachment plates. The arched surfaces and spacing of these protrusions does not always adequately maintain the dust pad on the plates during cleaning. As one performs the normal dusting or cleaning motion, the pad often slides off the plates.
In general, the majority of improvements to hand held dusters and mops have been directed at improving the basic mechanical components of the cleaning device. These improvements have been directed at providing an inexpensive yet robust implement for dry dusting or cleaning. However, notably absent in the prior art is any attempt to provide an improved cleaning pad that exhibits improved dust adhesion of traditional cleaning pads.
Therefore, there is also a need in the art to increase the dust adhesion of traditional cleaning pads via the addition of some chemical additive. Dust typically composed of numerous materials such as synthetic fibers, natural fibers, skin particles, soil, plant fragments, etc. that exhibit a variety of chemical and physical properties including hydrophobic and hydrophilic properties. Capillary forces depend on two properties of the liquid-surface interaction. The capillary adhesion force is directly proportional to the liquid surface tension, but also directly proportional to the cosine of the contact angle of wetting for both the fiber-liquid and dust particle-liquid interactions. The surface tension of liquids can range from 72 mN/m for water to approximately 20 mN/m for aqueous formulas with surfactants. On the other hand, because of the range of compositions of dust particles, from hydrophilic to hydrophobic particles, the cosine of the contact angle can range from 1 to 0 as the liquid oil wets, or does not wet, the dust particles. Hence, using amphiphillic active ingredients to coat the fibers of a cleaning pad and improve the range of properties is advantageous in improving dust pick-up.
While many duster heads or cleaning pads add a mineral oil or wax to the fibers of the cleaning pad, there remains a need for alternative additives for cleaning pads to further increase the overall dust pick up of the cleaning pad. Thus, amphiphillic (exhibiting both hydrophilic and hydrophobic) properties would be advantageous in improving duster-dust adhesive forces.
In addition, it would also be advantageous to preload a duster with a highly volatile liquid that evaporates quickly during and after the dusting process. Such a volatile liquid is advantageous in that it can aid in cleaning, but in that it does not leave a residue on the surface after dusting.